The Brief:
Luxury lipstick photography that proves both packaging and pigment
I chose Chanel Rouge Allure as a creative subject because it forces you to solve two problems most photographers avoid: making reflective black packaging look flawless while proving lipstick color and finish are exactly what they claim to be. As a luxury lipstick photographer, I wanted to test whether I could build a visual system that works for both campaign-level brand imagery and the kind of shade-accurate product photography beauty teams actually need to close sales. This is a personal project, not client work, but it explores the exact challenge premium beauty brands face when they need content that is both iconic and functional.
The Challenge:
Why most beauty photography fails at reflective packaging and shade accuracy
If a brand like Chanel needed to communicate couture-level packaging and true pigment performance in a single frame, I would start by acknowledging what breaks most beauty shoots. Reflective black packaging photography fails when you cannot control specular highlights, or when dust and fingerprints show up at full resolution. Lipstick shade accuracy photography falls apart when reds shift orange under the wrong light, or when retouching destroys texture to chase an unrealistic finish.
The brief I set for myself was to prove both at once: pristine black lacquer bullets arranged in a repeating pattern on a signature red field, with one open lipstick showing the gold hardware gradient and the actual product color and texture.
The Execution:
High-contrast lighting and scalable content systems
I built the setup around high-contrast lighting that sculpts form without creating stray glare on the black packaging. The pattern itself (a grid of closed bullets with a single open unit as the focal anchor) creates visual hierarchy and functions as a scalable content system. You can swap in new shades or seasonal drops without reinventing the entire art direction.
Working from Vancouver, I approached this the way I would handle any luxury beauty brief: preserve the brand codes while ensuring technical precision. The immersive red backdrop reinforces Chanel's identity while the controlled gradients on the gold metal communicate premium weight and craftsmanship. I kept the retouch discipline tight: flawless surfaces, but no plastic smoothing or altered cupid's bow shapes that make the product look fake.
Technical precision that protects brand identity
The lighting preserves Chanel's signature red with depth and fidelity. No orange shift or muddy blacks. The open bullet shows pigment payoff and finish quality through controlled sheen, proving the formula without crossing into greasy or over-polished territory. Every surface was checked for micro-scratches, dust, and warped reflections before I clicked the shutter.
The result is a set of images that feel editorial and minimal but deliver the material precision luxury brands need to compete in-feed against Dior, YSL, and Tom Ford.
The Applications:
Campaign visuals, digital tiles, and product page close-ups
These images work well as main campaign visuals, pattern-driven tiles for digital and social media, and pigment-and-packaging close-ups that support product pages. The collection includes derivatives optimized for different formats and channels, so the visual language stays consistent across touchpoints.
This approach would function as a launch-ready photo collection for a beauty brand that needs both awareness-level iconography and conversion-focused product shots. As a personal project, it demonstrates what is possible when you treat reflective black packaging and shade accuracy as non-negotiable instead of problems to fix in post.
If you are building a luxury beauty campaign that needs to prove packaging craftsmanship and pigment performance without sacrificing brand codes or consistency across channels, let's talk about what a disciplined, scalable photography system could do for your next launch.
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